Dealing more confidently with exceptional cases of reported speech

Except for the personal thoughts that people tell us face-to-face, most of the spoken information we get every day comes to us secondhand, either through another person or through other communication channels like the print or broadcast media. What we usually get is what’s known as reported speech or indirect speech—“So and so told me last night that neighbor X was heard berating neighbor Y at the latter’s gate”; “I heard from so and so that Dina was supposed to leave last night for a job in Dubai but was stopped by her husband at the last minute.” And when we read something said by someone in newspapers and magazines, it’s often in the form of a paraphrase. In print, few and far between are the times when things said by someone are so memorable or important enough to be dished out as direct quotes.

We are all familiar with the usual grammar for reported speech—the reporting verb is in the simple past tense (usually “said”) and the operative verb of that reported statement utterance generally takes one step back from the present into the past, as in “Benny told me last night that he was thinking of backing out.” This is in contrast to his exact words when he spoke to you last night: “I am thinking of backing out.” There are certain situations, though, where this general rule doesn’t apply, and the grammar for reported speech in such situations is governed by the so-called exceptional sequence rule.

In this week’s edition of the Forum, I am posting an essay I wrote for my English-usage column in The Manila Times almost four years ago explaining how verbs behave in the exceptional sequence. I hope reading it will give you greater confidence in dealing with this aspect of reported speech.

How verbs behave in the exceptional sequence

In these troubled and troubling times when people’s utterances—whether expressed in private or aired through the broadcast, cellular, or print media—are increasingly being viewed with mutual suspicion, it would be useful to make a quick review of the grammar of reported speech. This would require a reacquaintance with how verbs behave in the normal sequence of tenses and in the so-called exceptional sequence. People should clearly understand this behavior of verbs so they can have a clearer, unbiased perception of the chronology and logic of fast-breaking events as they happen in time.

Reported speech or indirect speech is, of course, simply the kind of sentence someone makes when he or she reports what someone else has said. For instance, a company’s division manager might have told a news reporter these exact words: “I am resigning to join the competition.” In journalism, where the reporting verb is normally in the past tense, that statement takes this form in reported speech: “The division manager said he was resigning to join the competition.”

The operative verb in utterances obviously can take any tense depending on the speaker’s predisposition or intent. However, when an utterance takes the form of reported speech and the reporting verb is in the past tense, the operative verb of that utterance generally takes one step back from the present into the past: the present becomes past, the past usually stays in the past, the present perfect becomes past perfect, and the future becomes future conditional. This is the so-called normal sequence-of-tenses rule in English grammar.

Now let’s review how this rule applies when that division manager’s utterance is stated in the various tenses:

Present tense to past tense. Utterance: “I am resigning to join the competition.” Reported speech: “The division manager said he was resigning to join the competition.”

Past tense to past tense. Utterance: “I resigned to join the competition.” Reported speech: “The division manager said he resigned to join the competition.” (The past tense can usually be retained in reported speech when the intended act is carried out close to its announcement; if much earlier, the past perfect applies.)

Present perfect to past perfect tense. Utterance: “I have resigned to join the competition.” Reported speech: “The division manager said he had resigned to join the competition.”

Future tense to future conditional tense. Utterance: “I will resign to join the competition.” Reported speech: “The division manager said he would resign to join the competition.”

The exceptional sequence. There is, however, one very rare instance when the operative verb in reported speech does not conform to this normal sequence of tenses. In the so-called exceptional sequence, which applies if the information being reported is permanently or always true, the operative verb in reported speech doesn’t take a tense backward but retains the present tense.

For instance, to prove a point, the division manager might have surprised his subordinates by saying an eternal verity like this: “A square has four sides of equal length.” This time, using the normal sequence-of-tenses rule to report that statement would be silly: “Our division manager said a square had four sides of equal length.” All squares will forever have four sides of equal length, so the exceptional sequence applies: “Our division manager said a square has four sides of equal length.”

But should the reported speech for habitual things also follow the exceptional sequence rule? Say, for instance, that right after declaring his intention to resign, that same division manager adds: “I am always loyal to the company I work for.” Would this reported speech for that utterance be correct: “He said he is always loyal to the company he works for”? Definitely not. By his very words, the speaker has shown that loyalty is such a fickle thing, so the normal sequence-of-tenses rule applies to his reported speech: “He said he was always loyal to the company he worked for.” (March 6, 2006)

From the weekly column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in The Manila Times, March 6, 2006, © 2006 by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.